As Columbia unveils official oral history of President Barack Obama, CC ’83, project leaders reflect on how they captured his ‘transformational presidency’ - Incite at Columbia University
-
News
As Columbia unveils official oral history of President Barack Obama, CC ’83, project leaders reflect on how they captured his ‘transformational presidency’
Mar 1, 2026 - Author Joseph Zuloaga
Nearly a decade after former President Barack Obama, CC ’83, left the White House in 2017, the Incite Institute at Columbia unveiled another facet of his legacy, publishing the official oral history of his presidency on Feb. 17—Presidents’ Day.
The project, first announced in May 2019, spans Obama’s eight years in the White House, consisting of 462 interviews with policy experts, Obama administration officials, lawmakers, and everyday citizens and totaling roughly 1,100 hours of audio. Incite spearheaded the project in partnership with the Obama Foundation, the University of Hawaii, and the University of Chicago. The latter two institutions assisted Columbia in compiling information about Obama’s youth in Hawaii and his years in Chicago with former First Lady Michelle Obama, respectively.
Latest news
-
go to the Introducing the 2026 Inaugural Incite Institute Doctoral Dissertation Fellows news
Introducing the 2026 Inaugural Incite Institute Doctoral Dissertation FellowsWe're excited to announce this year's cohort of Incite Dissertation Fellows. In keeping with Incite Institute's commitment to bringing disciplines together across the university, the Fellows Program brings together PhD candidates at the dissertation writing stage for a year of close, sustained engagement with the thinking of colleagues from disciplines other than their own. -
go to the Incite's Investigative Journalism Oral History Lands in Mother Jones 50th Anniversary Retrospective news
Incite's Investigative Journalism Oral History Lands in Mother Jones 50th Anniversary RetrospectiveFor its 50th anniversary issue, Mother Jones turned to Incite's developing oral history archive of investigative journalism, using interviews conducted by project lead Adiel Kaplan as primary sources for its founding history. -
go to the Incite’s Trust Collaboratory Hosts The First Community Conversation for AI Research Project news
Incite’s Trust Collaboratory Hosts The First Community Conversation for AI Research ProjectOn June 29, the Trust Collaboratory's TeLLLMe project gathered researchers, skeptics, and community members in Harlem for the first in a series of conversations aimed at building a more democratic, publicly accountable AI platform. -
go to the First Person news
First PersonColumbia College Today's Alex Boncy highlights five alumni that were interviewed in the Obama Presidency Oral History.